Key events
85th over: South Africa 201-8 (Markram 75, Maharaj 0) A double-wicket maiden from Hazlewood, who will be sniffing Test-best figures. At the moment his best is 6 for 67 against India at Bengaluru in 2016-17.
WICKET! South Africa 201-8 (Harmer c Carey b Hazlewood 0)
Josh Hazlewood picks up his 15th Test five-for! Simon Harmer had no chance with a violent lifter that brushed the glove and was expertly caught by Alex Carey. That was an unplayable delivery that exploded from a length.
WICKET! South Africa 201-7 (Jansen b Hazlewood 35)
Josh Hazlewood does it again! He’s been majestic in this innings, bowling with surgiacl precision, and he’s just taken out Marco Jansen with a beauty. Jansen pushed forward defensively at a good-length delivery that seamed through the gate to hit the top of the stumps. The gap between bat and pad was slightly too big but it was still a terrific piece of bowling. Hazlewood is one away from a richly deserved five-for.
84th over: South Africa 201-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 35) Lovely stroke from Jansen, a flowing cover drive for four off Starc. Later in the over, Markram leaves a big inswinger from Starc that bounces over middle stump. That’s the first really dramatic movement we’ve seen with the second new ball.
83rd over: South Africa 196-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 31) Josh Hazlewood gets the first crack at Marco Jansen with the new ball. A slightly overpitched delivery is driven crisply down the ground for four. Australia won’t mind that as they have a gazillion runs to play with. Jansen is a talented strokeplayer but not somebody you’d choose to bat for your life.
82nd over: South Africa 191-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 26) Australia take the new ball. Mitchell Starc starts over the wicket to check if there’s any swing. There is not, but he almost strikes with a full delivery angled across. Markram chases it absent-mindedly and is beaten.
A maiden, the 22nd of the innings.
81st over: South Africa 191-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 26) Jansen helps himself to four more when Maddinson spears one outside leg stump. Maybe Australia think they can buy a wicket with Jansen playing a few shots off Maddinson, although he’s only really going after rank bad deliveries.
80th over: South Africa 187-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 22) The dead bat of Aiden Markram plays out another maiden from Webster. The new ball is due but Nic Maddinson is going to continue for now.
79th over: South Africa 187-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 22) Jansen moves into the twenties with another boundary, a controlled square drive off the back foot. With the new ball due at the end of the next over, Maddinson’s work is probably done. If so, he’ll finish with figures of 3-1-14-0.
78th over: South Africa 183-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 18) Webster is back. Markram softens his hands to drop the ball short of leg slip, then times a half-volley to the cover boundary.
South Africa are heading for defeat but this has been an exceptional innings from Markram and it would be nice if he a) made a century and b) carried his bat. The last South African to carry his bat in a Test was Dean Elgar – he did it three times, which is ridiculous, including twice in as many months against India and Australia in 2018.
77th over: South Africa 179-6 (Markram 71, Jansen 18) A long hop from Maddinson is mauled for six by Jansen, who drags the next ball through midwicket for four. The first shot was risk-free, pretty much, as it was a rank bad bad. But the second kept a bit low and could potentially have gone back onto the stumps.
76th over: South Africa 169-6 (Markram 71, Jansen 8) Pat Cummins, a fan of the one-over spell, brings on Renshaw for Webster. Three from the over. Any wickets before the second new ball will be a gleeful bonus for Australia.
75th over: South Africa 166-6 (Markram 69, Jansen 7) Now it’s Nic Maddinson’s turn to bowl some left-arm spin. His first ball is an absolute ripper that beats Markram, and the rest of the over is pretty good too.
Why do Australia produce so many good occasional bowlers? It’s been a recurring theme of my cricket-watching lifetime. I’m still not over Rob Key batting magnificently against Brett Lee on a Perth flyer in 2002, only to be bowled by Damien Martyn.
74th over: South Africa 166-6 (Markram 69, Jansen 7) A maiden from Webster. That review was comically bad.
Jansen is not out! Missing off? It was barely in the same postcode as off. A weirdly appalling review from a team who normally use DRS so well. Might even be the worst Australian review since Headingley 2019. But it won’t be as costly.
Australia review for LBW against Jansen! Beau Webster starts after lunch, his first bowl of the innings, and has a big LBW shout turned down when Jansen offers no stroke to his third ball. Missing off, I reckon.
In other news, England have picked an 18-year-old for a tour of Australia. He’s really good.
“Hi Rob,” writes Ruth Purdue. “I think Cummins is going to bundle these 4 wickets one way or another. The amount of times he bends a match to his will is almost unmatched. He is still my favourite out of the cartel.”
Mine too. A 21st-century Gary Cooper.
Arf, thanks Geoff. Those two wickets just before lunch have extinguished South Africa’s hopes of an Adelaide 2012 homage, and this could be a quick kill. This Australian XI have 435 Test victories between them; it’ll soon be 446.
Geoff Lemon
We’re having a lunchtime handover here as well, because I have a match report to prepare. Would you please welcome with a warm round of applause, Test cricket! And also Rob Smyth. Meanwhile …
“The wonder of Test matches is their unpredictability. Australia should win, a draw is probably the best result for South Africa but the fascination is what will happen. I love it.”
Amen, Michael Hall.
Tom Barrington writes in. “Just thinking about the criticism (rightfully) of the SA team selection – how much difference do you think losing the toss and bowling first made to this? Pitch is taking a lot of spin now and the scoreboard pressure when bowling second could have largely benefited the two spinners.”
A huge amount, is the answer. South Africa would have groaned when the coin came down for Pat Cummins and he chose to bat. Two spinners, you want to bowl last. Renshaw played them so well on day two when there wasn’t much going for them. Later in the piece… well, Renshaw has 2 for 27, so that tells you something.
They would expected more turn earlier in the game, but the surface hasn’t deteriorated much. I’d like to see people being less averse to choosing spin: nobody says it’s wild for a team to pick three quicks. And if your spinners are good enough, they can bowl at any time of the match, they just have to adapt their approach.
I don’t think it’s all about two spinners, either. Maharaj would have played had it been one spinner, and he went none-for in the first innings at four an over, and a couple of lucky poles second time around at six an over. That’s an issue of your premier spinner not having an effect, not selection. Lyon hasn’t had much effect for Australia yet, either, though he’s looked more threatening than Maharaj.
Lunch – South Africa 166-6, trying to hold on for a draw
The runs target of 421 would require another 255, but that’s not going to happen. The draw, though… South Africa still has Markram, and he is the key. Can he bat another session? Can he get support to take him there? Jansen can bat, but generally in the more aggressive style. Can he bat time? Simon Harmer can bat time, he’s a proper county-drilled professional.
So they’re not without a chance, South Africa, especially considering that the light has been deteriorating shortly after tea each day. The Australians, meanwhile, just need to prise open the defence four more times. There’s a new ball due shortly, too…
73rd over: South Africa 166-6 (Markram 69, Jansen 7) Lyon with the last over before lunch, after this extended session of two hours and fifteen minutes. That’s because of all the overs we’ve lost to light – we now have two extended sessions to start each day. Four bat-pad catchers in around the bat for the last few balls, but Markram sees out each one.
72nd over: South Africa 166-6 (Markram 69, Jansen 7) That can happen with part-time bowlers! Renshaw has the ball slip from his hand, sending down a full toss, and Jansen cross-bats it down the ground for four. A skimmer.
71st over: South Africa 161-6 (Markram 68, Jansen 3) Lyon with turn, Markram waits for that turn off the pitch and whacks it down to long on for one. He made 143 for South Africa in that 2018 match that I mentioned early, chasing 417, most of those runs coming with the team at five down. Today they’re chasing 421, and six down.
70th over: South Africa 160-6 (Markram 67, Jansen 3) Just wide of the silly mid off! Jansen that massive stride forward, Renshaw’s ball hitting some pad up near the splice and the gloves, rolling up the splice, lobbing into the air, and it high to the left of the bat-pad catcher on the off side. I believe in Afrikaans cricket parlance that position is called the falk, the hawk. I’m not looking that up, so correct my spelling if need be.
69th over: South Africa 160-6 (Markram 67, Jansen 3) No issues getting off strike for Jansen, glances Hazlewood’s first ball of the over. Gets another later in the over, squeezed behind point. He loves to clobber the ball, can he do something different today?
68th over: South Africa 158-6 (Markram 67, Jansen 1) Thus begins one more Ballad of Big Marco. Wicket the first ball of the over. Jansen leaves a few, then thumps one to deep cover for a run. An appeal against Markram as Renshaw gets turn, into the thigh via some glove or bat I fancy. That period of hopefulness for South Africa slides from view, now it’s Australia back in control.
WICKET! Verreyne c Smith b Renshaw 1, South Africa 156-6
And Kyle Verreyne out of the middle! What has he done there? He’s had a miserable run with the bat lately, he’s the kind of player who can’t help playing shots, and he does so here. Matt Renshaw comes back on, and once again the move by Cummins works. Just a normal ball skidding on outside the off stump, but Verreyne can’t help playing a wristy little back cut kind of shot, a circular motion of the blade trying to flash the ball away, and all he achieves is an edge into the waiting hands of Smith. Another catch to take Smith’s record tally to 224.
67th over: South Africa 156-5 (Markram 67, Verreyne 1) Once again, it’s Hazlewood. Early wicket last night, then came back for an important one when the Markram-Bedingham stand threatened. Now he’s done it again. Goes past Fred Trueman’s 307 Test wickets, and he’s now one behind Morne Morkel and Lance Gibbs. A couple of big name Australians not far beyond that, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson.
Kyle Verreyne to the middle.
WICKET! Mulder c Carey b Hazlewood 29, South Africa 155-5
Now that is a breakthrough! The word doesn’t mean anything on commentary anymore, but the moment means everything to the two teams. Mulder, disconsolate. Australia delighted. And it was exactly that phenomenon we mentioned a couple of overs ago, where the ball heads towards the leg side and the batter can’t help following it. Not a great delivery but it starts on middle and leg, then a bit of reverse takes it further away. So by the time Mulder tries to glance it, he only gets a feather of an inside edge. Carey behind the stumps dives slightly forward and a long way to his left, taking the catch with one glove.
66th over: South Africa 154-4 (Markram 66, Mulder 28) Three catchers around the bat for Lyon: slip, short leg, leg slip. Crouched and waiting. Lyon shifts back around the wicket to Mulder, looking to straighten the ball down the line of the stumps, but Mulder is defending on the back foot with the straightest bat.
65th over: South Africa 154-4 (Markram 66, Mulder 28) Starc continues, hunting the gloves by going in at Markram’s hip, but he manages to drop hands and turn to evade the ball rather than following it and maybe gloving to the keeper down the leg side. When Starc goes off stump, Markram’s defence is perfect.
I don’t think South Africa are scoring 267 more runs today, but right now they look like a team that could bat out a draw.
64th over: South Africa 154-4 (Markram 66, Mulder 28) Lyon carries on, Markram getting a big stride out to defend off the front foot. The spinner swaps to around the wicket, bowls a skidder that goes on outside the off stump, on the angle. Then back over the wicket to have Markram defending on the back foot. Wider goes Lyon, Markram steps across and drops the ball behind point for one. Mulder defending to leg, the risk of bringing those bat-pad catchers into play, and the Australians are interested.